General

How can I become a contributor?

How can I become a footage contributor?

In order to sell footage at PIXTA, you need to pass our Footage Contributor Examination.
Please sign up as a contributor first, and submit your portfolio to PIXTA.
For further information, see "How to become a footage contributor".

Is it possible to register and sell images for editorial uses?

No, it's not.
All stock images on PIXTA need to ones that can be sold for purposes such as advertisement or other profit-making ones.
Therefore, we do not sell images as editorial use. Please make sure to register your works for those puroses.
※ What is the editorial use? ... To use photos without model release for the purposes of news report etc .

What is Exclusivity?

In PIXTA, contributors can receive higher royalties with selling their images as exclusive. Exclusive contributors sell. their all images only at PIXTA(Total Exclusive).You can apply to become an Exclusive Contributor member one you have reached 150 sales of photos or illustrations for the past year, or 50 sales of photos or illustrations for the past 3 months.

Partial exclusivity is an option for non-exclusive contributors which raises royalty rates of certain images specified as exclusive. Exclusive images can't be sold at any other stock photo agencies.
As for partial exclusive, you can set certain images as exclusive in your account page by accepting "PIXTA Terms and Conditions for Exclusive Supply of Contents".
For further information, please see here.
*PIXTA Exclusive is only available on PIXTA site or affiliated sites with PIXTA.

What is “Subscription service”?

On our website, we offer subscription service for customers as well.With the service, user can download many items with certain limits of the number of downloadable items within a prescribed period, once they pay a certain amount of fee.
Depending on the number of downloads, credits are allocated to the contributors.There is no additional procedure for contributor to sell photos and illustrations on the service.Besides, those who do not want to sell items on the subscription service are also able to change the setting to “Not to sell on the subscription" on the dashboard on PIXTA.

What is PIXTA Affiliate Program?

PIXTA affiliate program is a performance-based advertising program in which you can display ad banners and promote PIXTA in your blogs or websites, and earn rewards from new members' purchases.
Affiliate program is available for both contributor and customer members.
To join the program, log into your account page and see "Affiliate Program".

Can I sell images that are already selling at other stock photo agencies?

It is fine with PIXTA.
Basically you are allowed to sell your images at both PIXTA and other agencies.
However, please make sure you have no problem as well with selling those images at PIXTA regarding the terms and conditions of the other agencies.
If you sell your images as Exclusive, you can get higher royalties.
For details, see here.

Will I receive notifications when my files go on-lined?

Is there any limit for number of contents I can upload?

You have upload limit per month for photo/illust. It can change depending on multiple factors such as approval rates, quantity of past uploads and quantity of sales. So far there is no upload limit for footage.
For details about upload limits, please see here.

How can I match previous submitted model releases?

You can match a model release with content which you uploaded in "Submit Images". However, you can not match model release with content uploaded via FTP in the past. Please upload them again in "Submit Images" when you submit new contents.

“Are the two footage contents below the same?” is displayed on the screen of applying footage for reviews. What should I do?

If there is a similarity between the uploaded footage contents in the form of 4K and stock contents on sale, it is possible that the “same contents confirmation screen” gets displayed.

The stock contents on sale and the newly uploaded contents are displayed on the confirmation screen, please check whether two footage contents are the same or not.

※The same contents confirmation screen is displayed only when both of the two contents are footage contents. You can Not link photo contents with footage contents.

【In the case that two footage contents are the same】
・When you are selling 4K video content, all sizes are converted and sold from the uploaded video contents in in the form of 4K.
・The information of the content, such as tags and model release, will be linked with stock content on sale automatically.

【Please be sure to read.】
In the case that you misjudge the two contents are the same accidentally, the stock contents on sale will be converted to new footage contents, and will also be deleted.
In the case that you misjudge the two contents are the same accidentally,You can Not undo the change. Sorry to trouble you, but please upload the contents again.
Besides, because PIXTA regularly tries to reconsider the examination standard, it is possible for us to reject the original contents that you have submitted and pass the examination before when you reupload next time.Thank you for understanding in advance.

Reviewing

How long does it take for content to be reviewed?

Reviewing of photos or illustrations is expected to take up to 7 business days and footage reviewing is expected to take up to 7-10 business days. As a result of consecutive holidays or crowded uploads, some reviews may take longer time. We announce in Your account page when there are long delays. In case that if your content has been pending over a month, it might be caused by system failure. Please let us know the content's number via email.

I uploaded multiple contents, but some of them are still pending.

We have multiple reviewing steps (image quality, tag check or etc.), which may result in some time lag. Usually they catch up in several days, so please be patient. In case of system's error, for example, only one content is still pending for over a month even the rest are already reviewed, please let us know the file number via e-mail.

Why did my file get rejected?

Please note that we can't accept contents incompatible with our guildeline.
If your contents got rejected, go to "Content Manager" to check the comments.
Basically we do not accept the contents rejected before, but, you can upload them again if the content is fixable (e.g. inappropriate keywords, dust on your image etc.).
Basically we don't reinvestigate the files that have once been rejected.
Please understand that we reserve the right to decline images on the basis of our own standard, which we are constantly improving for better quality.
However, if the rejection reason seems completely wrong (may be for some system errors), please inform us the file no. and details.

What is a "Credit" ?

How will I get paid?

We offer two payment options: Paypal or Payoneer. You can choose the payment method in "Payment Settings" page. To get paid, please make a request from "Request Payment" page. Our default minimum payout is 50 credits (=5,000JPY) . Payment will be processed on 15th (if holiday, deferred to the next business day) of the month after the next you make a request.
(e.g. If you make a request during August, payment will be disbursed on October 15th.)

If you choose Payoneer as your Payment Method, the amount of royalties in Japanese Yen will be exchanged at the JPY-USD rate as applied by Payoneer to the amount in US dollar, which will be transferred to your Payoneer account, subject to the conversion fee to be deducted in the amount equivalent to 2% of the amount of royalties in US dollar.

The applied JPY-USD rate shall be the rate of an external financial institution determined by Payoneer in accordance with the date of our exchange order, which may be different from the date of your conversion application or payment date.

Will my earned credits be subject to withholding tax?

Yes. Your earnings derived from selling contents may be subject to withholding tax.
The provision is different depending on each tax convention, so we recommend you to contact your legal and/or tax advisor if you have any question.
See also "Income Tax Information" (Login required).

What is contributor rank?

At PIXTA, contributor rank rises as the total numbers of sold photos/illustrations increases.The more files you could sell, the higher rank and royalty you can get.
*Currently, contributor rank only applies to the sales of photos and illustrations. It is not applied to footage sales.
For further information, please see "Contributor Rank".

How can I claim the benefits of the income tax convention?

If you are a resident of any of the countries which have a tax convention with Japan and eligible for tax relief, please refer to "Income Tax Information" and send required tax forms to PIXTA. (The provision is different depending on each tax convention, so we recommend you to contact your legal and/or tax advisor if you have any question. )

There is "Ex" icon in my "Sales History" records. What's this?

"Ex" icon appears when your file is downloaded with an "Extended License". Please refer to "Contributor Guide" for further information.
Customers can add "Extended License" to the files which they had already downloaded in the past. In this case, only the Extended License itself will be charged.

Membership

How can I sign up for PIXTA?

Please register from following page if you wish to register as a customer.
After you have input necessary information, confirmation email will be sent to your email address.
By clicking the URL in confirmation email, your registration will be completed.
There’s no fee needed for registration.
»Sign up

I ca't log in.

If you can't log in to your account, please make sure that you have input correct e-mail address and password.
Please note that password is case-sensitive, and be careful not to input unnecessary space.
There's also some possibilities of computer environment causing the error, so please check preferred system requirements from here.
If you have forgotten your password, please input your registered e-mail address at following page.

Please tell me what kind of ID card needed for contributor registration?
Is it possible for me to register as a contributor besides driver's license or passport?

Please submit one of the following JPEG images from the ID confirmation application form.

【For residents in Japan】
・Driver's license (Front or both sides if it has any amendments)
・Basic Resident Registration Card (Juki Card) (Front or both sides if it has any amendments)
・Passport (the identity page that includes your name and date of birth)
・Individual Number Card (nicknamed as "My Number".Front side)
※Please do not submit the back side on which your individual number is stated.
※ A notification card will not be accepted.
※If the image of My Number readable is uploaded, We will delete it immediately.

【For non-residents in Japan】
・Passport
・Driver's license (Front side. If there are items mentioned, please upload the back side as well. Written in English, DOB and your portrait photo are required.)
・Photo ID issued by the government. (Front side. If there are items mentioned, please upload the back side as well. Written in English, DOB and your portrait photo are required.)

ーPlease be sure to read the notes.ー
※ Only upload the image data of your ID here.
※ We do not accept the ID via airmail or email.
※ Provided information must be compatible to your account information including your name and DOB.
※ Document must be 50MB or less of JPEG data.
※ Please note that the data is not acceptable when it is unfocused or includes discrepant information.
※ Until you pass the approval of confirmation document and introductory test, you can not "Submit works".
※ If there's no amendment (e.g. family name or address), the reverse side is not required.

I want to change my account information.

You can change your email address, password or other information at any time in your account page.
Please go to Account Settings to view or change your information.
If you are registered as a customer member and want to sell stock contents, please see a Contributor Guide. Contributor members can make purchase with no additional procedure.

- Others
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Flash player is necessary in order to utilize some functions such as uploading images and playing footage preview.
If it's not installed to your system, please download it from Adobe.http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/

Other

How can I stop receiving newsletters from PIXTA?

If you want to stop receiving newsletters from PIXTA, please log in to your account page, access to Account Settings and uncheck "Opt-in Newsletters".

*E-mail announcing purchase/sales details and confirmation e-mail regarding changing account information can't be stopped.
*Please be noted that important announcement such as system maintenance might be sent to members not permitting to receive newsletters.

I have no response to inquiry.

Please check your e-mail account again because it could be possible that our e-mail has arrived to your junk mail folder.
If not in your junk mail folder, please contact us again.

It takes about a couple of days until our reply (We are not operating during weekends and national holidays). Please be noted that it might take longer depends on the subject of inquiry or some congestion.